pilotdave

I don't disagree. It's a slimy practice and its disappointing to see a DZ that should know better stoop to that level. It's easy to see that people very close to skyride have the strongest opinions... and a lot of that has to do with DZ loyalty and pride. I think it's sad to see skydivers happy to hear a DZ might get kicked off of an airport. I'd love to see the owners of that DZ go to prison and share a cell with a big man named Bubba who finds them cute, but I don't like hearing about an airport deciding that there's no place there for skydiving. I'd love to see ASC get shut down to make room for a more honest DZ to move in. I understand that the DZ and the scam certificate business are separate. I understand that the staff and jumpers at ASC aren't literally involved in the skyride scam. You don't have to keep explaining that there's a difference. It's missing the point. The feelings against the DZ have nothing to do with the people there, they have to do with the DZ's ownership. If you choose to support the DZ, you're supporting the scam. But honestly my problem isn't with the fun jumpers at ASC, it's with the dropzone owners that accept skyride certificates. The whole thing is in their hands, not yours. But that won't make me stop poking fun at skyride/ASC supporters.

I have a droid... don't see any way to increase the font or icon size. Can't find an app for it either. Might not work for you, but I'm loving mine. Dave

Umm, their local page says it stands for Adventure Skydiving Connecticut. Do they have a location in Atlanta too??

I've been using smugmug since 2006. There are some things that I don't like, but they are minor. Overall, it just keeps getting better and better and will continue to do so. I post new pictures every week. My original goal was just to make things easy for me. I didn't want emails or phone calls saying "can you email me that picture you took on that jump 3 weeks ago?" I spend a lot of time captioning and keywording each photo so people can find the pictures of themselves that they might want. I keep my prices low because this is more for convenience than making money. 2009 was my first year to make a profit (over the $150 yearly fee)... primarily through selling small digital downloads for 25 cents each. Smugmug recently added the capability to give coupons to customers. So far I have only used that for christmas gifts in the form of gift cards. But I can see potential for increasing sales. You can take a look at my site. I don't have a huge amount of customization, but there's quite a bit of little tweaks. Let me know if you have any specific questions or happen to want a $5 off coupon code. Smugmug also just added almost 30 new themes (pre-set color schemes). They look really nice. I'm trying to figure out how to steal some of the new elements to add to the theme I'm using. I'm no CSS expert, but I am really good at copying and pasting. There's a 14-day trial. They don't even ask for a credit card number, if I remember correctly. Give it a try. Dave

I have tons of shots with little glimpses of Van's 206 doors in the background. Here's one that shows the windows, cutaway, and the seatbelt that holds the door open when it's rolled up. I'm sure there are better ones on my site... Dave

Buy a logbook, log your last few jumps in it, and bring it. DZs are looking to see the date of your last jump to make sure you're current. Dave

Yeah I was surprised how nimble and responsive the silhouette was when I borrowed a 135 for a while. It was quite a bit more touchy than my sabre2 135, even though it flew a bit slower. The brake lines on that one were too short which probably contributed, but just minor corrections on final could get the thing swinging from side to side. A little overreaction down low could easily get someone into trouble... which was actually exactly how i was able to borrow it. The owner didn't need it while recovering from an avoidance-turn-induced pulverized pelvis. Dave

I never jumped with the IE I got my rating from. He shot video. You can always find a bigger sucker to ride up front... Dave

I think there's interest. Don't know about the other DZs, but now that CPI is getting a super otter, there's plenty of interest there. I know I already started asking around to see if anybody was running it this year. Dave

We use the skyhi pics with a few I took myself mixed in. Linetwists, slider up (actually a pic of a normal opening before the slider came down), closed end cells (not hard to get a pic of when you jump a sabre2), and a 2-out I shot of someone else. The skyhi pics are good, but they could use some updating. Some are really hard to tell what's going on. And the spanwise stripes on the canopy are a bit confusing. Dave

I've never understood freefly pants... but they sure are popular. That's one of the few items of clothing missing from my gear bag. 2 RW suits (and a 3rd on order), freefly suit, camera suit, camera jacket, and a wingsuit. Use the right tool for the job, right? Dave

Booties do help a lot with tracking, but tracking is not the primary reason for having booties on an RW suit. I'd highly recommend starting with a proper fitting RW suit, with booties. Wait a while before buying the $200 pair of pants for freeflying. Dave

Didn't get your landing! By the end of the day I was getting tired of walking back to the middle of the landing area, through the snow, uphill both ways, in sub-20-degree weather. Dave

Really doesn't work very well. Video is an AMAZING tool for learning... but not videos shot from your own point of view. They won't tell you much about what you're doing. The way to improve is to jump with people more experienced than you and ask for feedback. If you can get someone else to shoot video, great. Dave

Here's a simple step through... http://www.skydivingstills.com/Skydiving/2009/Weekend-Pics-8-30-09/9467217_Z2jP4#635979657_qSsBT-A-LB Dave

Hehe I think he had that look on his face from exit until 10 minutes after landing. Not sure if he was that happy, or his face just froze that way. Dave

Some new ones from today... Dave

This website has a strict rule against pedagogy jokes, doesn't it?? Dave

We put up 11 loads on new year's day here in CT, including a few night jump loads. Did my first night hop n' pop (from 3000) when the clouds came down. I think we would have jumped all night if the weather didn't deteriorate. Dave

I thought this one was kinda funny... just the difference in expressions between the TI and the student. Dave

1. He looks relaxed enough. 2. At least he went for his own nose. 3. What's going on up there?? 4. The TI's wife came along... and flew in to give a kiss... to the wrong guy. Ok these are cheating a little because the student is an exprienced jumper getting the TI current. But it was the funniest tandem I've photographed (although I only did one paid tandem video in 2009). Dave

OK, so you got a dictionary for Christmas Dictionary? Sounds more like one of those "word of the day" calendars. Or an attempt at the guiness book of world records for most uses of the word dialectic in one internet forum thread. Seriously though, Robin sounds REALLY smart. I am impressed with all the big words and egotistical attitude. Robin clearly wins whatever the argument is. Or was this dialectic? Or dialectric? Dave

I don't take stills when I'm the instructor, but I did a lot of AFF videos in the last couple years before I got my rating... Dave

Some expressive students... Dave

Freestyle tandem landings are going to catch on. This one is called the Tandem Superman. Face covered to protect the guilty...